Polish Cooking Class/Demonstration

I walked into "ingredients" this morning and the aroma from our cooking class last night is lingering in the air and that is a good thing. Who knew Polish food was so good. It is not a spicy food; but it is a comfort food with dough and meat and potatoes. And not to forget the sour cream gravy and Kolacky! I want to thank everyone who participated and for those who couldn't below are the recipes. My take away from last night is that you can fill Pierogi with whatever you want to, just don't make them to big 'cause then they become pasties. For those of you from Northern Wisconsin and Northern Michigan who know what a pasty is and for those of you who aren't, pasties are pocket pies filled with meat, potato, onion and maybe a vegetable. The dough is made with lard. Pasties were lunch for the coal miners and carried in their pockets and were eaten like a sandwich. Now they are eaten with gravy, butter or ketchup at a table.

Meatballs in sour cream

Meatballs

1 lb ground beef
1 cup soft breadcrumbs
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp A-1 steak sauce
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/2 seasoning salt
1/8 tsp pepper

Combine all ingredients and form 18 meatballs.

Sauce

1 can crushed tomatoes (reserve 1/2 cup liquid)
1 1/2 cans of water
2 TBL flour
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp smoky paprika
1 cup sour cream (room temperature)

Whisk flour into cold tomato liquid. Heat on stove top. Add tomatoes and cook until bubbly.
Add meatballs with slotted spoon or birds nest.
Turn off heat and add sour cream.
Put meatballs back in sauce and serve over noodles or rice.

Golombki

1 lb ground beef (at least 75/25 or better)
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 TBL chopped onion
1 cup cooked rice
1 egg
Large cabbage leaves
1 can tomato soup
1 cup water

Cover cabbage leaves with boiling water; let stand for 5 minutes.
Season ground beef with all ingredients (except soup and water).
Drain water from cabbage.

Place a portion of filling in stem side of cabbage and roll up folding together like an envelope.

Fasten with toothpicks.

Option 1: place rolls in roasting pan, add water to soup and pour over rolls. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 1/2 hours.

Option 2: place rolls in slow cooker, add water to soup and pour over rolls. Cook for 3 hours on high or 6 hours on low.

Paluski

3 potatoes, mashed and cooled
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup flour

Add eggs to potatoes. Mix in flour, form into small bullets. Cook in boiling water for 5 minutes.

Kolacky

1 pint of vanilla ice cream, softened (do not let ice cream become runny) (use natural ice cream not artificial or frozen yogurt)
1 lb butter (not margarine)
5 cups flour

Blend ice cream and butter together. Add flour one cup at a time. When completely folded together, gently roll onto floured surface. Cut into desired shape, fill with preserves of your choice (last night we used raspberry and apricot and even mixed the two) and bake 10 to 12 minutes at 375 degrees.

Pierogi

3 eggs
8 ounces sour cream
3 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 TBL baking powder

Beat together eggs and sour cream until smooth. Sift together the flour, salt and baking powder and add to sour cream mixture until dough comes together. Knead dough on lightly floured surface until firm and smooth, divide dough in half; roll to 1/8 inch thickness and cut into desired shape.

Fillings

Potato: prepare 2 cups of mashed potatoes. Let them cool thoroughly. Melt 3 TBL butter in skillet; over medium heat stir in 1/2 cup finely chopped onion, cook until translucent. Stir in mashed potatoes and add salt and pepper to taste. Lana prefers white pepper. You can also add shredded cheese if desired.

Sauerkraut: melt 2 TBL butter in skillet. Add 1/3 cup chopped onions, cook until translucent. Stir in 1 1/2 cups drained sauerkraut. Add salt and pepper to taste. Lana uses Bavarian kraut.

Cut shapes using biscuit cutter or pierogi press.

Place 1 tsp filling on dough. Moisten edges with water and fold over and press together sealing edges.

Add pierogi to boiling salted water for 3 to 5 minutes or until they float to the top. Remove with slotted spoon or birds nest tool.

Well there you go and I can tell you everything was delicious!! Monica